The message we preach

We preach Christ crucified following the pattern of Jesus and His Apostles. Just as they did, we warn people that the wrath of God rests upon all those apart from Christ. Since most people fail to see themselves as God sees them, we sense an obligation to describe their sinful condition to them in order that they might begin to see their need for the Savior. (Jesus came to save sinners, not those who consider themselves righteous in God’s sight.) The Bible likens the process of evangelizing to sowing of seed. Like the farmer, the evangelist must first prepare the ground by lovingly confronting people about their true condition before God. Most men will admit they are sinners. It is our job to show them that as sinners, they stand justly condemned and rightly deserve eternal hell. Until a man begins to comprehend his real condition, the good news of Jesus’ substitutionary sacrifice will not be significant. Often during an initial conversation, 90% of our time will focus on these issues. As God enables us to help them see their condition, we then gladly explain how Jesus took the punishment they deserve by dying in their place as the Lamb of God, and that He rose from the dead and is now seated at the Father’s right hand, proving that God accepted the payment. This central theme of the gospel is what separates Christianity from all of the man-made religions. The message we preach is contained in the tracts that we write and distribute. We give Christians permission to use the text of our tracts in their evangelism outreach. (Select “Free Evangelism Tools” from menu bar.) We only ask that if you do so, that you do not alter the text of the tract itself without first getting permission from Stones Cry Out Ministries.

For more detailed explanation about our message and approach to evangelizing the lost, refer to Tom Bear’s book, “Bringing Back the Gospel” A description of it is provided on the books page of this web site.

Stones Cry Out Statement of Faith

Section 1: The Word of God- We believe the Bible (both the Old and New Testaments) is God’s authoritative Word to man. We believe God used men to write the books of the Bible but moved them supernaturally to produce writings that were free of error. We believe that God has faithfully preserved His written Word in the many available Greek and Hebrew manuscripts and the many translations that are faithful to the original writings. We believe that though the Bible speaks about many things, its main message is about God’s eternal plan to redeem people from sin through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus. We believe that this message of the Bible is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes and that there is no other book on Earth given by God for this purpose.

Section 2: The Triune God- We believe there is only one God; He is without beginning and end; He is the creator and sustainer of all things; He is in control of all things, including the salvation of sinners; and He is perfectly holy and will tolerate no sin in his presence. We believe that this one God has always existed as three persons, referred to in the Bible as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We believe that these three are equal in every divine characteristic and that they are joined perfectly in purpose to carry out the will of God.

Section 3: Jesus Christ- We believe that Jesus Christ is God’s eternal Son and that He has exactly the same divine nature as God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. We believe that, according to the eternal plan of God, He took upon Himself a human body by the power of the Holy Spirit and was born of the virgin Mary. We also believe that while He lived on earth, He lived a perfect, sinless life that fully pleased God. We believe that He came into our world to offer His life as a sacrifice in order to take the punishment that we deserve for our sins. We believe that God’s demand for justice was completely satisfied with the payment Jesus made by His death. We believe that Jesus rose from the dead three days later and was seen by many people. We believe that after many days, Jesus ascended to His Father’s side and received a place of complete authority over all things and that He continually intercedes for His people as our High Priest. We believe that one day He will return from heaven as He promised and all will know clearly that He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Section 4: The Holy Spirit- In addition to God the Father and God the Son, we believe in the person of the Holy Spirit. We believe that the Holy Spirit works to show people the ugliness of their sin, the perfect and absolute righteousness of God, and the certainty of their condemnation before God because of their sin. We believe that the Holy Spirit actively works to raise sinful people from spiritual death to spiritual life, giving to them the undeserved gift of faith and repentance. We believe that the Holy Spirit lives inside every believer. We believe that He always directs believers to live holy lives like Jesus, and He gives them the power to do so by faith.

Section 5: Man- We believe God originally created man, male and female, in the image of God and free from sin. We believe that sin entered the world through disobedience on the part of Adam, the first man. We believe that Adam’s nature became corrupted and that all people afterward, except for Jesus Christ (through the virgin birth), have inherited Adam’s corrupt nature and show this nature by personally choosing to sin. We believe that all people live their lives in rebellion against God, independent of God’s rule, seeking happiness as they see fit, and not really seeking God. We believe that based on their attitude and actions, all people stand condemned before God and fully deserve to be punished in hell forever.

Section 6: Salvation- The Gospel promise: Any and every person that believes from their heart that Jesus took the full punishment for his sins receives remission of sins. (The sins are washed from their record forever.) We believe that no person will ever receive this gift simply by his own choice because all people are born slaves to sin and spiritually dead. By nature, people would rather keep living their lives the way they see fit rather than submit to God as ruler over them. We believe that out of mercy God takes the initiative to draw people to Jesus. God is therefore the only One who deserves any credit for the salvation of all who are saved. We believe that, according to His pleasure, God chooses to raise some people from death to life. They are born again to a living hope and immediately begin believing and obeying God. Because only God deserves credit for saving, no man can take credit for anything except for his own sin and rebellion. None of man’s works, rituals or merit sways God in any way, because in themselves they are all considered dirty by God. Further, no man may take credit for his decision to follow Christ, because that too was a gift from God, the outworking of the faith God gave him.

In spite of the fact that God is the initiator of salvation, He holds every person personally responsible for how they respond to His salvation offer. All people (whosoever) are invited to receive salvation through simple faith/trust in the finished work of Jesus’ death. God does not desire anyone to perish. (See II Peter 3:9.) God commands everyone who hears the gospel call to repent and believe the gospel. If a person fails to do so, it is solely his own fault because salvation is offered freely to all who want it. There will be no excuse of judgment day!

We believe that every person God regenerates (causes to be born again), repents of sin and trusts Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. We believe that the people God saves gladly begin to serve and obey Jesus as their new Master. Two examples of this new heart-felt obedience are a willingness to declare one’s faith through baptism and a desire to be joined together in partnership with other believers. Though salvation is by grace through faith, that salvation always results in good works and lives that reflect the very nature of Jesus. And all who truly belong to Jesus will persevere in their faith through sufferings and persecution.

Section 7: The Church- We believe that every person whom God saves is spiritually and supernaturally united to Christ and to all other believers in one Body. We believe that this entire Body of saved people is the real Church and is the visible manifestation of Jesus on the Earth. Thus, we believe that the Church is the spiritual Body of Christ, and Jesus Christ Himself is the Head of the Body. We believe that the true Church is composed of all persons who have been given supernatural, holy life by the Spirit of God. We believe that it is Jesus’ purpose to build up the His Church and to purify it by causing individual members to be joined together with others in local assemblies throughout the world. We believe that God has planned that believers in these local assemblies serve each other and work together to advance God’s Kingdom by proclaiming the gospel to people all around them and teaching new believers to do the same. We believe that God has planned that local assemblies see themselves united to all believers in the world to advance God’s purposes throughout the entire Earth. Therefore, we believe that all true believers are unified as partners with the goal of seeing Jesus exalted through the salvation of people from every nation and language. We believe it is normal to expect believers to flock together like sheep, to lovingly resolve conflicts between and among each other, to seek the good of each other, to encourage each other in the labor of harvesting for God’s Kingdom, to pray for each other, to watch out and care for each other, to teach each other, and to exhort each other, all with the aim of advancing God’s Kingdom. We believe all true Christians desire that the Good News of Jesus Christ be proclaimed to all people and work and pray to that end. We believe all true Christians share a passionate desire to see this take place and offer themselves to God to be used in any way He desires, so that His purposes are fulfilled. Lastly, we believe that, along with the Biblical practices just mentioned, local churches should visibly display the gospel through the practice of baptizing believers by immersion and observing the Lord’s Supper.